Walmart and Wild Oats Launch Effort to Drive Down Organic Food Prices

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Walmart, the nations largest grocer, announced today it will carry Wild Oats organic food items. Originally introduced in 1987, Wild Oats will relaunch at Walmart starting this month with a new, more affordable price point on quality products covering a broad variety of categories  from salsa and pasta sauce to quinoa and chicken broth. Customers will save 25 percent or more when comparing Wild Oats to national brand organic products.*

Wild Oats Marketplace Organic Chicken Broth (Photo: Business Wire)

Wild Oats, a trusted provider of organic groceries, will feature the following lines at Walmart:

Wild Oats Marketplace Organic, which adheres to USDA guidelines for organic certification and includes everything from canned vegetables (15 oz) at $.88 to a full range of spices such as paprika, curry powder and ground cinnamon (2 oz) starting at $2.48. Organic items represent nearly 90 percent of the Wild Oats offering.

Wild Oats Marketplace, which includes products with simple and real ingredients such as ready-to-prepare skillet meals (5.8 oz) at $1.50.

Wild Oats Marketplace Originals, offering new and uniquely formulated items, will be available later this year.

We know our customers are interested in purchasing organic products and, traditionally, those customers have had to pay more, said Jack Sinclair, executive vice president of grocery at Walmart U.S. We are changing that and creating a new price position for organic groceries that increases access. This is part of our ongoing effort to use our scale to deliver quality, affordable groceries to our customers.

The Wild Oats brand meets customer demand for more affordable organic foods. In fact, internal research found that 91 percent of Walmart shoppers would consider purchasing products from an affordable organic brand at the retailer.

By partnering with Walmart, Wild Oats is starting a movement that makes it easier than ever for customers to access affordable organic and natural products, said Tom Casey, CEO of Wild Oats. Our availability at Walmart will allow us to finally pass along scalable savings directly to consumers. We are reinvigorating our brand by bringing great tasting Wild Oats products to more customers than ever before.

Walmart and Wild Oats will introduce nearly 100 products as part of the line, removing the price premium associated with organic groceries. For example:

Wild Oats Product

Wild Oats Price

ComparableItem Price

PriceDifference

Wild Oats Marketplace Organic Tomato Paste (6 oz)

$0.58

$0.98

41%

Wild Oats Marketplace Organic Chicken Broth (32 oz)

$1.98

$3.47

43%

Wild Oats Marketplace Organic Cinnamon Applesauce Cups (24 oz)

$1.98

$2.78

29%

Wild Oats Marketplace Organic Tomato Sauce (15 oz)

$0.88

$1.38

36%

With more than 4,000 stores across the nation selling groceries, Walmart offers a broad assortment of fresh produce, dairy, meat and packaged foods. In addition to growing its organic product offering through Wild Oats, the retailer is expanding its assortment in categories including yogurt, produce, deli and bakery.

At Walmart, we are focused on offering customers choice, added Sinclair. We know our customers count on us to provide them with affordable access to all of the groceries they are looking for. Organics are no exception.

Wild Oats product assortment will vary by store. Walmart.com will also offer Wild Oats later this summer. More information can be found starting today at www.walmart.com/wildoats and www.wildoats.com.

Editors Note:

Savings claim is based on item price comparisons (per ounce) of 26 nationally branded organic products available at Walmart stores. Research was conducted in April 2014.

About Walmart

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) helps people around the world save money and live better  anytime and anywhere — in retail stores, online, and through their mobile devices. Each week, more than 245 million customers and members visit our 11,302 stores under 71 banners in 27 countries and ecommerce websites in 10 countries. With fiscal year 2014 sales of over $473 billion, Walmart employs more than 2 million associates worldwide. Walmart continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment opportunity. Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting http://corporate.walmart.com on Facebook at http://facebook.com/walmart and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/walmart. Online merchandise sales are available at http://www.walmart.com and http://www.samsclub.com.

About Wild Oats

Wild Oats Marketing, LLC was formed by The Yucaipa Companies in December 2011 to bring back the much-loved and trusted Wild Oats brand. Founded in 1987 in Boulder, Colorado, as Wild Oats Markets, the original Wild Oats was a leading operator of natural and organic foods stores and farmers markets in North America, and grew to become the nation’s second-largest natural and organic foods chain.